Reimagining Crime and Punishment in India
Our previous primer on ‘Reimagining Crime & Punishment in India’ explored India’s view on crime, punishment, and its expectations from criminal laws. We found that criminal provisions are routinely used to ensure social and regulatory compliance. We also saw rampant arbitrariness and inconsistency in the prescription of punishments. This has led to a massive problem of excessive and indiscriminate criminalisation.
In this primer, we attempt to understand the different mechanisms that can be used to check overcriminalisation and guide the prescription of punishment. We document how diverse countries approach the following broad questions and what creative solutions they have found:
A. What to criminalise?
B. How to arrive at the nature of punishment for a particular crime?
C. How to determine the quantum of punishment for a particular crime?
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About the Authors
Neha Singhal was a Senior Resident Fellow and led work in the area of Criminal Justice, and is researching on the criminalisation of drug use in India. She has authored the report titled “From Addict to Convict - The Working of The NDPS Act in Punjab”. She was the Deputy Director of the Death Penalty Research Project at NLU, Delhi. She has also taught courses on legal history and humanitarian law at NLU, Delhi, She graduated from the National Law School of India University in 2008 and completed her Masters in Criminal Justice from the University of Kent, Canterbury in 2010.
Naveed is Senior Resident Fellow and Lead with the Criminal Justice Team at Vidhi. His work focuses on decriminalisation of India's legislative landscape and reimagining India's approach towards Crime & Punishment. Previously, Naveed has worked on criminalisation of drug use and evaluated the government response to increasing violence against women. Naveed holds an undergraduate degree in law from National University of Law, Punjab and a Masters in Law from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Ayushi is a Research Fellow in the Criminal Justice Reforms team at Vidhi. Prior to joining Vidhi, Ayushi worked at Nirma University as an Assistant Professor and National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar as a Teaching and Research Associate. She has also worked with the Logistic Division, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and advised on issues related to Maritime Regulatory Framework. Ayushi graduated from Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab (RGNUL) in 2018 with a BA., LL. B (Hons.) and obtained her LLM degree in Constitutional and Administrative Laws from the Indian Law Institute, Delhi in 2019. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at National Law Institute University, Bhopal (NLIU) where her research is focused on violence against sexual minorities.
